Method and system for cash remittances using a two country banking structure

ABSTRACT

A bank customer of a first bank in a first country has a bank account. The bank provides a banking service whereby customer is able to send cash to a recipient in a second country via a commingled bank account belonging to a second bank. The cash is provided to the recipient in the currency of the second country by a third party payment agent. To effect a transfer, the bank customer in the first country instructs the first bank to debit his or her account and send cash to a designated recipient. In response, the first bank debits the customer&#39;s account, sends first payment instructions to the second bank, and transfers funds to a commingled account at the second bank. Funds from this commingled account are used to pay for the cash provided to the recipient. The banking service may be provided free of charge to a banking customer of the first bank.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/162,066 entitled “Method and System for Cash Remittances Using a TwoCountry Banking Structure,” filed Aug. 26, 2005, the entire disclosureof which is herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method and system for a person in afirst country (“remitter” or “sender”) to provide cash to a person in asecond country (“beneficiary” or “recipient”), in the currency of thatsecond country. The method uses banks in both countries and at least onepayment agent in the second country to effect the transfer.

2. Description of the Related Art

FIGS. 1-3 show prior art methods for a remitter (sender) 102 in a firstcountry (“sending country” to send funds to a beneficiary (recipient)104 in a second country (“receiving country”). The sender pays in thecurrency of the first country (“sending currency”) while the recipientreceives funds in the currency of the second country (“receivingcurrency”). Thus, if the sender is in the U.S.A. and the recipient is inMexico, the sender 102 pays in U.S. Dollars and the recipient 104receives funds in Mexican Pesos.

FIG. 1 shows a first prior art “sender-bank-account torecipient-bank-account” transfer model. The sender 102 banks at a firstbank 110 (“sending bank”) located in the first country where he or shehas a bank account 112. The recipient 104 banks at a second bank 120(“receiving bank”) in the second country where he or she has a bankaccount 122 where funds are in the second currency. In this instance,the second bank is an affiliate of the first bank.

The sender 102 sends instructions 114 to the first bank 110 to transferfunds from his or her account 112 to the recipient's account 122 at thesecond bank 120. The instructions include information sufficient toidentify the sender's bank account 112, the amount to be transferred (ineither the sending currency or the receiving currency), and informationsufficient to identify the recipient's bank account 122. The sender 102may also inform the recipient 104 via another channel 116, such as by atelephone call or an e-mail, that a fund transfer to the recipient'sbank account 122 is being made, when the funds should be available inthe recipient's bank account 122, and the amount being transferred.

The instructions 114 may be provided by the recipient to the sendingbank 110 in one of a number of different ways. For example, theinstructions 114 may be provided over the telephone to a human operator(“associate”) who converses with the sender to determine the details ofthe transaction. The instructions may instead be provided over thetelephone to an automated system which responds to either voice commandsby using voice recognition, or to numeric commands from the telephonekeypad, or both. The instructions 114 may instead be provided over theinternet, for instance after the sender has logged in to the sendingbank's secure web site and entered the required information. Othermethods of receiving the instructions 114 are also possible.

Once the sending bank 110 receives the instructions, it checks to seewhether there are sufficient funds in the sender's bank account 112.Assuming sufficient funds are present in the sender's bank account 112,the sending bank 110 performs a foreign exchange fund transfer 118 tothe recipient's account 122. In this prior art embodiment, since thesending bank 110 and the receiving bank 120 are affiliated with oneanother, such a transfer can be done through internal systems, withoutusing 3rd party banks, interbank wire transfers, “SWIFT” codes, and thelike. Eventually, the recipient 104 may make a withdrawal 144 from hisor her own account 122, once the transfer has been completed.

FIG. 2 shows a second prior art “sender-bank-account torecipient-bank-account” transfer model. The prior art model of FIG. 2differs from the prior art model of FIG. 1 primarily in that the secondbank 220 is a 3.sup.rd party bank which is unaffiliated with the sendingbank 110. As a consequence, the instructions 214 provided by the sender102 may be more detailed, giving additional information about thereceiving bank 220, such as a SWIFT code. In this instance, the sendingbank 110 typically makes a wire transfer 218 through open bankingchannels, specifying needed routing information, among other things. Inaddition, the sending bank 110 and the receiving bank 220 will useposted, current foreign exchange rates to determine the cost to thesender to have a specific sum in the receiving currency deposited in therecipient's bank account 222.

FIG. 3 shows a prior art “Western Union®” model for a sender 102 toprovide cash to a recipient 104. In this model, agents are used in boththe sending country and in the receiving country. The sender 102 visitsthe office of a collecting agent 302 and completes a form to send money.Among other things, the form asks for contact information about therecipient—name, address, telephone number, etc. The sender 102 thenpresents the completed form, the amount to be sent plus a transactionfee (all in the currency of the sending country), along with one or moreforms of personal identification, such as a driver's license. A testquestion devised by the sender 102 may also be submitted, along with ananswer, for use in confirming the identity of the recipient when paymentis made at the other end. The collecting agent 302 gives the sender areceipt with an accompanying Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN), whichserves as a tracking number. Thus, in the prior art model of FIG. 3, thesender 102 and the collecting agent 302 must exchange information, asdepicted by arrows 314.

The collecting agent 302 then provides the relevant information 306 to amoney transfer company 310, such as a Western Union®. The money transfercompany uses various channels, shown generally as 318, to sendinstructions and funds to one of its payment agents 334 in the receivingcountry. These instructions typically include information sufficient tocontact the recipient 104 and authenticate the recipient. Contactinformation may be as simple as a name, address and phone number, whilethe authentication information may include the aforementioned testquestion and/or MTCN number. The sender 102, via another channel 316,typically phone or e-mail, can send needed information about thetransaction to the recipient 104.

The beneficiary obtains the cash either by going and picking it up fromthe payment agent 334, or having it delivered. In either case, therecipient 104 requires authentication information, such as a valid formof identification and, if applicable, the answer to the test questionprovided by the sender 102. The recipient 104 may also provide the MTCNto the payment agent 334 to identify the transaction. Thus, as seen inFIG. 3, the payment agent 334 provides the recipient 104 with cash, uponreceiving the appropriate authentication information, as indicated byarrows 344.

The prior art bank-to-bank models seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 cannot be usedwhen the recipient 104 does not have a bank account. Thus, inter-countryfund transfers using these models do not work for millions of potentialrecipients throughout the world, especially in regions throughoutCentral and South America, and also in Asia and Africa, where millionsdo not have bank accounts.

The prior art “Western Union®” model seen in FIG. 3 typically requiresthat a sender 102 go in person to provide the funds to the collectingagent 302. This is an inconvenience, since senders 102 do not typicallyhave accounts with collecting agents against which they may draw fundsfor such inter-country money transfers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for abanking customer of a first bank in a first country to invoke a bankingservice of sending cash to a recipient in a second country, the cashbeing in the currency of the second country, the banking customer havinga bank account in the first bank. The inventive method comprisesdesignating a recipient of the cash; specifying a first amount of fundsto be provided to the recipient; allowing the first bank to debit thebanking customer's bank account for a second amount of funds; andallowing the first bank to send payment instructions to a second bank inthe second country, the payment instructions comprising informationsufficient for the second bank to provide said cash to the recipient viaa payment agent in the second country.

In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for afirst bank in a first country to provide a banking customer with abanking service of sending cash to a recipient in a second country, thecash being provided in the currency of the second country, the bankingcustomer having a bank account in the first bank. The inventive methodcomprises receiving from the customer, information sufficient toidentify the recipient; receiving from the customer, a first amount thatthe customer wishes to have sent, in cash, to the recipient; debitingthe bank account of the customer by a second amount; crediting acommingled account belonging to a second bank with a third amount, thesecond bank being in a second country; and sending payment instructionsto the second bank, the payment instructions comprising informationsufficient for the second bank to provide said cash to the recipient viaa payment agent in the second country.

In yet another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method fora second bank in a second country to provide cash to a recipient withinsaid second country, the cash being provided in the currency of thesecond country. The inventive method comprises: receiving, by saidsecond bank, first payment instructions from a first bank located in afirst country, the first payment instructions identifying the recipientand a first amount of funds to be provided in cash to the recipient;receiving, into a commingled account belonging to said second bank, saidfirst amount of funds from a first bank located in a first country, thefirst bank being affiliated with the second bank; and sending secondpayment instructions to a payment agent in the second country, thesecond payment instructions being at least partially derived from thefirst payment instructions, and directing the payment agent to providesaid first amount of funds, in cash, to said recipient.

In yet another aspect, the present invention is directed to a cashremittance system that uses a first bank in a first country and a secondbank in a second country, the second bank being an affiliate of thefirst bank, wherein the first bank provides a banking service to itsbanking customers whereby a banking customer can have funds from his orher bank account delivered, in cash, to a recipient in the secondcountry, via a commingled account belonging to the second bank and withthe assistance of a third party payment agent in the second country, thecash being in the currency of the second country. The inventive cashremittance system further comprises a first bank computer having atransaction database associated therewith, and configured to transferfunds from a banking customer's bank account to the commingled accountbelonging to the affiliated second bank, and further configured to sendpayment instructions to the second bank, the payment instructionscomprising information sufficient for the second bank to provide saidcash to the recipient via a payment agent in the second country.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a prior art inter-country fund transfer protocol in whichmoney is transferred from a first bank account in one country to asecond bank account in an affiliated bank in a second country.

FIG. 2 shows a prior art inter-country fund transfer protocol in whichmoney is transferred from a first bank account in one country to asecond bank account in an unaffiliated bank in a second country.

FIG. 3 shows a prior art inter-country fund transfer protocol using acollecting agent in a sending country, a money transfer company, and apayment agent in a receiving country.

FIG. 4 shows an inter-country fund transfer protocol in accordance withthe present invention.

FIGS. 5 a-5 d depict the principal roles of each of the various partiesin the inter-country fund transfer protocol of FIG. 4.

FIGS. 6 a-6 e depict a flow chart of an application used to helpimplement an inter-country fund transfer protocol in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIGS. 7 a and 7 b depict exemplary contents of first paymentinstructions and second payment instructions, respectively.

FIG. 8 shows a sketch of the computer infrastructure to enablecommunication among the sending bank, the receiving bank and the paymentagent.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 4 shows the protocol for a sender 402 in a first country to cause afirst amount of cash to be provided to a recipient 404 in a secondcountry.

The sender 402 has an account 412 at a sending bank 410, and the sendingbank 410 has an affiliated bank 420 (“receiving bank”) in the receivingcountry. The sending bank 410 provides a banking service to its bankingcustomers 402 whereby a banking customer can have funds from his or herbank account 412 delivered, in cash, to a recipient 404 in anothercountry, via a commingled bank account 422 belonging to the receivingbank 420 and with the assistance of a 3rd party payment agent 434 in thesecond country. The bank account 422 is considered to be “commingled” inthe sense that funds originating from the bank accounts 412 of manydifferent senders end up in the same account 422, albeit each for alimited time until the funds are sent on to the payment agent 434.

Funds in the banking customer's account 412 are in the currency of thesending country (“sending currency”) in which the bank 410 is situated.Meanwhile, the cash provided to the recipient 404 is in the currency ofthe second country (“receiving currency”). In those instances where theU.S. is the sending country, and the receiving country recognizes theU.S. Dollar as its official currency, then the terms “sending currency”,“currency of the first country”, “receiving currency” and “currency ofthe second country” all refer to the U.S. Dollar, and so refer to thesame thing. And in a “second” country which recognizes the U.S. Dollaras an official currency in addition to its own native currency, theterms “receiving currency” and “currency of the second country”, withinthe meaning of the present application, refer to both currencies.Therefore, the terms “receiving currency” and “currency of the secondcountry” refer to any and all currencies that are officially recognizedin that second country.

The sender 402 provides instructions to the sending bank 410 and thesending bank 410 provides authentication information to the sender, asshown generally by arrows 414. The instructions may be provided over thephone or via the internet, as discussed above with respect to the priorart embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. The instructions effectively directthat a first amount of cash be sent to a designated beneficiary 404 in asecond country, the cash being provided in the second currency, and thata second amount of funds be taken from the sender's account 412 to payfor this. The authentication information, along with other informationsuch as the date and the first amount of cash being sent, may beconveyed by the sender 402 to the recipient 404 via another channel 416,such as telephone or e-mail.

The bank 410 formats the user-provided payment instructions into firstpayment instructions, and uses internal banking channels 418 to send thefirst payment instructions and transfer a third amount of funds into acommingled account 422 belonging to the affiliated bank 420. Thecommingled account 422 is used to provide the funds distributed as cashto the recipients. The funds in this commingled account 422 may beeither in the sending currency or in the receiving currency.

The commingled account 422 may reside in the receiving bank 420 in thereceiving country, as shown in FIG. 4. Alternatively, it may reside in abranch of the receiving bank, which branch happens to be located in thesending country. Still alternatively, the commingled account 422 mayreside in another bank, either affiliated or not, in the sendingcountry.

The receiving bank 420 reformats the first payment instructions intosecond payment instructions which are compatible with the electronicsystems of the payment agent 434. The receiving bank 420 then forwardsthe second payment instructions to the payment agent via a channel showngenerally as 428.

A fourth amount of funds in the receiving currency is then sent to thepayment agent 434. In one embodiment, the fourth amount of funds is sentby either an intra-bank, or interbank, transfer to an account of thepayment agent 434. Alternatively, cash may be provided to the paymentagent 434, such as via courier. Still alternatively, the fourth amountsof funds may be routed to the payment agent 434 via intermediate paymentagents (not shown). Regardless of how this fourth amount of fundsreaches the payment agent 434, the payment agent 434 is charged withdisbursing a fifth amount of funds, in cash, to the recipient 404, thefifth amount having the same value as the first amount originallyspecified by the sender 402.

In one embodiment, the first amount of funds specified by the sender 402as the amount to be sent in cash to the recipient has the same value asthe second amount of funds debited from the sender's account 412; thethird amount of funds deposited in the commingled account 422 has thesame value as the second amount of funds (though possibly in a differentcurrency); the fourth amount of funds delivered to the payment agent 434has the same value as the third amount of funds received into thecommingled account 422 (though again possibly in a different currency);and the fifth amount of funds provided to the recipient 404 in cash hasthe same value as the first, second, third and fourth amounts.

In other words, in this embodiment, no fees or commissions are chargedto either the sender 402 or the recipient 404; it is a free serviceprovided to a customer/sender of the sending bank (subject to thecurrent foreign exchange rate for converting from the sending currencyto the receiving currency, if necessary). By providing such a freeservice, the sending bank may attract new customers who have foreigncash remittance needs, some of these new customers thus being encouragedto open a bank account for the first time.

In other embodiments, fees or commissions may be charged to either thesender or the recipient. For instance, the second amount debited to thesender's account may be slightly more than the first amount specified bythe sender, this excess being partially or wholly included in the thirdand fourth amounts, so as to compensate the payment agent 404. Otherfees and commissions may be introduced, as well.

The payment agent 434 ultimately provides cash to the recipient 404.This is normally accomplished by the recipient 404 going and picking upthe cash from the payment agent 434, although it is possible in somescenarios that the payment agent 434 delivers the cash to the recipient404. In some embodiments, the sender 402 can designate in theinstructions which of these is to take place. In either case, however,the recipient 404 requires some authentication information to establishthat he or she is entitled to receive the cash. Thus, as seen in FIG. 4,the payment agent 434 provides the recipient 404 with cash, uponreceiving the appropriate authentication information, as indicated byarrows 444.

FIGS. 5 a-5 d show the responsibilities and primary actions of theprincipal entities involved in the fund transfer protocol of the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 a corresponds to the sender 402. As a threshold matter, as seenin box 512, the sender must be a customer of the sending bank.Therefore, the sender must either open a bank account or designate anexisting bank account to be used for international transfers. The bankaccount 412 preferably is a checking account, although other types ofaccounts, such as savings accounts, may be used instead. In general, anykind of demand deposit account may be used. In other embodiments, a lineof credit, such as one established by a home equity loan, may serve asthe sender's account.

As indicated in box 514, the sender 402 must then link this bank account412 to at least one potential recipient. This is done by having thesender create an electronic list of recipients, which comprises oneelectronic record or recipient profile for each potential recipient towhom the sender may wish to send funds. For each potential recipient,the sender is asked to provide recipient information. The recipientinformation is entered into designated fields of an electronic recordwhich is then added to the list of potential recipients. The list ofpotential recipients may be edited by the sender, thereby permitting thesender to selectively add or delete potential recipients, ormodify/update the recipient information of a particular potentialrecipient.

The recipient information typically includes the recipient's name andaddress, telephone number, date of birth, recipient's preference for howfunds are to be distributed and perhaps other identifying or trackinginformation, as well. The sender 402 may also designate which paymentagent is to be used with each potential recipient. The sender maydetermine this based on the location of the potential recipients sincecertain payment agents may only serve a particular geographical area.

At some later time, as seen in box 516, the sender 402 contacts thesending bank 410 and provides instructions to send a first amount offunds to a particular recipient on the recipient list. The recipientinformation in the corresponding electronic record is used to populatepayment information data, thereby obviating the need for the sender toprovide complete detailed information about the selected recipient, eachtime funds are to be sent. Upon receiving these instructions, thesending bank 412 provides authentication information to the sender.

Later on, as indicated by box 518, the sender 402 provides the recipient404 with information about the funds that are being sent, along withauthentication information useful in establishing the recipient's rightto receive the funds.

FIG. 5 b corresponds to the sending bank 410. As seen in box 522, thesending bank 410 receives instructions from the sender 402 to send afirst amount of cash to a designated recipient 404 in another country,and authorization from that sender to debit sender's account for asecond amount. This second amount preferably is the same as the firstamount, but need not be so if the sending bank charges a fee orcommission. In box 524, the sending bank 410 debits the sender's accountfor the second amount, and in box 526 it formats first paymentinstructions. The first payment instructions include all of theinformation that the various payment agents 434 might require, alongwith special information for use only by the receiving bank 420, amongother information. All of this is formatted in a manner understandableto the electronic systems used by the receiving bank.

As indicated by box 528, the sending bank 410 sends the first paymentinstructions to the receiving bank 420, and transfers a third amount offunds to the commingled account 422, which belongs to the receiving bank420. This third amount of funds preferably has the same value as thesecond amount of funds and also the first amount. The commingled account422 may contain funds in either the sending currency or the receivingcurrency. The commingled account 422 is used to receive the funds whichlater are supplied to the payment agent 434 for distribution as cash tothe recipient 404.

FIG. 5 c corresponds to the receiving bank 420. As seen in box 532, thereceiving bank 420 receives the first payment instructions from thesending bank. A third amount of funds are also deposited in thecommingled account 422. As also seen in box 534, the receiving bank thenformats second payment instructions based at least in part on the firstpayment instructions. The second payment instructions are formatted in amanner understandable to the application software and/or otherelectronic systems used by the selected payment agent 404, it beingunderstood that different payment agents may require different formats,and possibly even different types of information.

As indicated in box 536, the receiving bank 420 sends the second paymentinstructions to the selected payment agent 404, along with the fourthamount of funds. The fourth amount of funds may be transferred to thepayment agent electronically, such as to an account of the paymentagent, by courier in the form of cash, or by other accepted and knownmethods. As indicated in box 538, the sending bank 420 may awaitconfirmation from the payment agent 434 that the cash has been deliveredto the recipient 404, and may report this to the sending bank 410.

FIG. 5 d corresponds to the payment agent 434. As seen in box 542, thepayment agent 434 receives the second payment instructions andacknowledges receipt to the receiving bank 420. As seen in box 544, inone embodiment, the payment agent may contact the recipient 404. Thismay be done by phone, e-mail or other suitable means, and in certaingeographical areas, the payment agent may even know the recipientpersonally. In other embodiments, it is up to the recipient 404 tocontact the payment agent and inquire after such matters as whether thecash is available, when it will be delivered, when might it be pickedup, etc. Regardless of whether the payment agent 434 is to deliver thecash, or the recipient 404 is to pick up the cash, the payment agent 434is responsible for ensuring that the funds are disbursed in accordancewith the second payment instructions. Finally, after the fifth amount offunds has been disbursed to the recipient 404 in cash, the payment agent434 notifies the receiving bank 420 and/or the sending bank 410 that thecash has been provided to the recipient 404.

A working embodiment of the present invention is facilitated by a suiteof software, known as “SAFESEND”™. This application includes a number ofsoftware modules which implement various facets of the overall system.These modules provide such functionality as establishing a senderprofile, establishing a recipient profile, updating a profile,submitting a status inquiry to track a transaction, initiating a disputeand following up, and initiating a single remittance “account-to-cash”transaction.

The sending bank 410 and the receiving bank 420 each use one or morecomputer platforms to host the necessary software, databases and otherinformation. These platforms may communicate with one another viadedicated lines or a network. The specific software modules residing onthe computer platforms used by the two banks 410, 420 may differ due tothe role played by each bank. It is understood, however, that in areciprocal arrangement in which a given bank can play the role of eithera sending bank, or a receiving bank, it will be provisioned with thecomplete suite of software.

FIGS. 6 a-6 e present a detailed information and data flow diagramcomprising a number of steps illustrating the interaction among thevarious entities and a software application resident in the sendingcomputer and used to facilitate a single remittance account-to-cashtransaction (“single remittance application”). In this embodiment,without loss of generality, it is assumed that the sender is in theUnited States and wishes to have cash delivered to a recipient inMexico. Thus, the sender will pay in U.S. Dollars and the recipient isto receive cash in Mexican Pesos.

In the embodiment seen in FIGS. 6 a-6 e, the sender (“remitter”)telephones his or her instructions to a person working for the bank(“associate”) to have cash sent to a particular recipient(“beneficiary”). Horizontal dotted lines in these figures indicateboundaries between the various entities: (1) remitter; (2) associate(representing the sending bank); (3) the single remittance application(also representing the sending bank); (4) receiving bank; and (5)payment agent.

In step 602, the sender places a phone call to the sending bank, toinstruct the bank to have a first amount of cash sent to a particularrecipient.

In step 604, the sending bank associate answering the call accesses thesending bank's internal online intranet website. In step 606, theassociate clicks on the “SafeSend” link, which invokes the suite ofsoftware configured to handle the transaction. In step 608, theapplication's main menu is displayed on the associate's computer screen,and this menu includes the various software modules discussed above. Instep 610, the associate clicks on the menu option for “single remittancetransaction”, which allows a sender to have cash delivered to arecipient.

In step 612, the single remittance application presents a remittersearch screen, which asks for information to help identify the sender.In step 614, the associate enters one or more items of information tohelp identify the correct sender. For this, the associate selects fromsuch items as the sender's checking account number, the sender's socialsecurity number, the sender's full name or others as may change fromtime to time. In step 616, the single remittance application returns allmatches and displays these on the associate's computer screen. In step618, after verification with the sender (who is still on the telephone),the associate selects the correct sender and in step 620, the singleremittance application displays a sender transaction profile.

The sender transaction profile that is displayed may include a widevariety of information pertinent to the contemplated transaction. Thus,included in the sender transaction profile may be the sender's profile(name, address, phone number, date of birth, etc.), the sender's accountinformation, including the funds available for a transfer (presented inboth the sending currency and the receiving currency), the currentforeign exchange rate, and names of at least some of the potentialrecipients, among other items. In addition to the information, thesender transaction profile may also have one or more fields for enteringsuch things as the amount being transferred, the effective date of thetransfer, when the transfer request should expire in case the paymentagent could not reach the recipient, the payment agent preferred by thesender, and the like.

In step 622, the associate asks the sender how much the sender wouldlike to send the recipient. In step 624, the sender provides theassociate with a first amount that the sender wishes to have sent to therecipient. This first amount may be expressed by the sender either inthe sending currency or the receiving currency (e.g., either in U.S.Dollars or Mexican Pesos). In step 626, the associate enters the firstamount in the currency type provided by the sender, into an appropriatefield in the sender transaction profile. Similarly, the associate mayask for, and then enter in a corresponding field, the effective date forthe transfer, when the transfer request should expire, and possibly eventhe preferred payment agent. Default entries may be provided for one ormore of these.

In step 628, the application converts the amount entered into the othercurrency using the current foreign exchange rate. In step 630, thesingle remittance application displays the amounts in both currenciesand displays a list of potential recipients previously entered into thesystem by the sender. In step 632, the associate, upon viewing thedisplay, asks the sender to designate the recipient to whom the fundsare to be sent. For this, the associate may read the list of potentialrecipients to the sender. In step 634, the sender designates therecipient and in step 646 the associate clicks on the recipient's name.Thus, the recipient designated by the sender is selected from a list ofpotential recipients, the list of potential recipients having previouslybeen assembled by the sender.

In step 638, the single remittance application retrieves the recipientsprofile and displays this on the associate's computer screen. In step640, the single remittance application displays an optional ‘memo’ fieldand in step 642, the associate asks whether the sender wishes to includea message. In step 644, the sender may optionally provide the contentfor such a message and if such content is provided, in step 646, theassociate enters the message into the ‘memo’ field.

In step 648, the single remittance application generates anauthorization code and a random retrieval access code, which serves as atransaction/tracking number. In step 650, the single remittanceapplication displays comprehensive information about the proposedremittance transaction, for verification purposes. In step 652, theassociate reviews the proposed remittance transaction with the senderover the phone to confirm that everything is in accordance with thesender's wishes.

In step 654, the associate determines whether the proposed remittancetransaction is correct. If there is an error in the proposed remittancetransaction, then in step 656, the single remittance application goesback to the remitter transaction profile screen of box 620. If, on theother hand the proposed remittance is correct, then in step 658, theassociate clicks a ‘process’ button on the display to process thetransaction and control goes to box 660. It should be noted here thatonce the associate clicks the ‘process’ button in step 658, both thesender's role, and the associate's role in this transaction are over andboth may hang up the phone; the transaction will continue without theirfurther participation.

In step 660, the transaction is processed and the single remittanceapplication generates a real time debit for a second amount (“debitedamount”) to the sender's account. If a real time debit is not possible,then a hold is placed on the sender's account for this debited amount.In a preferred embodiment, this second, debited amount is identical tothe first amount that the sender indicated to the associate that he orshe wished to send. In other words, in this preferred embodiment, thesender's account is debited for the exact amount that the recipient isto receive, and so the sender is not charged a fee or commission forhaving cash provided to the recipient. It should be noted that in otherembodiments, a fee or commission may be charged and so the second amountmay be slightly higher than the first amount, the differenceconstituting a fee charged to the sender.

In step 662, the single remittance application saves the transactioninformation in a status database. The transaction information mayinclude the retrieval access code, the time and date of the transaction,the sender's account number, recipient information, the amount debited,the payment agent selected, and the like.

In step 664, the single remittance application credits the commingledaccount 422 at the receiving bank 420 with a third amount (“creditedamount”). In a preferred embodiment, the credited amount is the same asthe debited amount, and so the exact amount of funds taken from thesender's account are then deposited into the commingled account 422.

In one embodiment, the commingled account 422 holds funds in the sendingcurrency. In the case of a U.S.-based sender, this means that the‘debited amount’ is taken from the sender's account 410 (in U.S.dollars) and deposited in the commingled account 422 as the ‘creditedamount’. The receiving bank 420 then takes those ‘Y’ U.S. dollars in thecommingled account 422 and uses them to purchase Mexican Pesos using thecurrent foreign exchange rate. In another embodiment, the commingledaccount 422 holds funds in the receiving currency. In such case, thesending bank again takes the ‘debited amount’ from the sender's account,but this time first converts it into Mexican Pesos at the currentforeign exchange rate, and then deposits the Pesos into the commingledaccount 422, as the ‘credited amount’. Regardless of which bank convertsthe funds from U.S. dollars to Mexican Pesos, the receiving bank 420sends a fourth amount (“transferred amount”), in Mexican Pesos, to thepayment agent 434, as discussed further below.

In step 666, the single remittance application creates first paymentinstructions 700 in a predetermined format. As discussed further belowwith respect to FIG. 7 a, the first payment instructions include all ofthe information that the various payment agents 434 might require, alongwith special information for use only by the receiving bank 420, amongother information, all formatted in a manner understandable to theelectronic systems used by the receiving bank. Also in step 666, thesingle remittance application sends first payment instructions to thereceiving bank via a special request processor. It can now be seen thatby reviewing and approving the proposed remittance transaction in step652, the sender 402 allows the sending bank to both debit the sender'sbank account 412 and also send the first payment instructions to thereceiving bank 420.

In step 668, an instruction receiving application associated with thereceiving bank 420 receives the first payment instructions.

In step 670, the instruction receiving application acknowledges thefirst payment instructions to the single remittance application. Takinginto account which payment agent has been selected by the sender, thereceiving bank 420 reformats some of the content in the first paymentinstructions 700 into second payment instructions 730, discussed furtherbelow with respect to FIG. 7 b. The second payment instructions are thensent by the receiving bank to the payment agent 434. The receiving bankmay also provide the fourth amount of funds to the payment agent 434 atthis time.

In those embodiments where the receiving bank is to select the paymentagent, in step 670, a second application associated with the receivingbank 420 selects a payment agent based on one or more predeterminedfactors, such as the geographical location of the recipient.

In step 672, the single remittance application receives a confirmationmessage from the receiving bank that the first payment instructions havebeen received, and in step 674 the single remittance application updatesa database with information on the status of the transaction.

In step 676, the payment agent 434 receives the second paymentinstructions; the payment agent may also receive the second funds. Instep 678, the payment agent 434 confirms receipt of the second paymentinstructions. In one embodiment, this confirmation typically goes to thereceiving bank 420. In other embodiments, this confirmation may godirectly to the single remittance application in addition to thereceiving bank. In step 680, the receiving bank notifies the singleremittance application (unless this has already been done by the paymentagent).

In step 682, the single remittance application receives confirmationthat the payment agent received the second payment instructions and instep 684, the single remittance application updates the remittancestatus database accordingly.

In step 686, the payment agent 434 disburses the fifth amount of fundsto the recipient 404 in cash, in accordance with the second paymentinstructions. In step 688, in one embodiment, the payment agent 434notifies the receiving bank 420 that the cash has been disbursed to therecipient 404. In another embodiment, in step 688, the payment agent 434directly notifies the single remittance application, as well as thereceiving bank 420, that the funds have been disbursed. It is understoodthat if the funds have not yet been disbursed after some length of time,the payment agent will inform the receiving bank and also the singleremittance application in some embodiments) that the disbursement ispending payment, canceled or expired, as the case may be, and any suchstatus will be reflected in the remittance status database.

In step 690, the receiving bank 420 notifies the single remittanceapplication that the payment agent 434 has disbursed the fifth amount offunds to the recipient 404 in cash. In step 692 the single remittanceapplication receives confirmation that the funds have been disbursed.This confirmation comes either from the receiving bank 420 or directlyfrom the payment agent. And in step 694, the single remittanceapplication updates the remittance status database to reflect that fundshave been disbursed and that the transaction has been completed.

In the embodiment described with respect to FIGS. 6 a-6 e, atelephone/associate model was used for the sender to provideinstructions to the sending bank. It should be evident to those skilledin the art that the sender may instead use an automated telephone systemwhich responds to either voice commands by using voice recognition, orto numeric commands from the telephone keypad, or both. It should alsobe evident that the sender may instead interact with a web-based tooland provide the same instructions. In this latter case, the sender wouldlog in to a secure web site, specify the account, and the amount to betransferred and the beneficiary, among other things. In such case, thesingle remittance software application would effectively perform therole of the associate in addition to the role it plays in FIGS. 6 a-6 e.

FIG. 7 a shows the contents of exemplary first payment instructions 700of the sort created by the sending bank 410 and sent to the receivingbank 420, and FIG. 7 b shows the contents of exemplary second paymentinstructions 730 of the sort created by the receiving bank 420 and sentto a payment agent 434. It is understood that the first paymentinstructions and the second payment instructions each are electronicrecords comprising a number of fields populated with informationpertinent to the transaction. These two electronic records are typicallyin different formats and have overlapping, though not necessarilyidentical, information.

The first payment instructions 700 include a first set of fields thatidentify the transaction. These include the transaction routing number702, the retrieval access code 704, and the date 706 and time 708 therecord was created. The first payment instructions include a second setof fields that present details of the transaction. These include thedate/time that the transaction request expires 709, the amount 710 thatthe recipient is to receive, information identify the sender 712 and theauthentication code 714. The first payment instructions further includesa third set of fields 716 identifying the recipient 404 by such thingsas name, address and phone number. The first payment instructions 700further includes a fourth set of fields 718 identifying the paymentagent 434 who is to disburse the cash to the recipient 404.

As discussed above, the receiving bank 420 processes the first paymentinstructions and reformats some of the information therein into secondpayment instructions. As seen in FIG. 7 b, the second paymentinstructions 730 includes much of the same content as the first paymentinstructions. However, there may be differences in one or more of (a)the electronic format, (b) the contents in a given field—such as in thetime of creation 738 of the record, (c) the name ascribed to a givenfield—such as the term “Verification Code” 744 in lieu of“Authentication Code” 714, (d) the order in which the fields arearranged—such as the appearance of the “Phone” field 752 prior to therecipient's name; and (e) even in the presence of the field, asilluminated by the absence of the payment agent field 718 in the secondpayment instructions 730 (which are to be sent to that payment agentanyway).

From the foregoing, it can be seen that the second payment instructionsare at least partially derived from the first payment instructions.Furthermore, the second payment instructions direct the payment agent toprovide the funds, in cash, to said recipient.

FIG. 8 shows one embodiment of the principal subsystems for use in afund transfer system 800 in accordance with the present invention. Theprincipal subsystems shown are the sending bank computer 810, thereceiving bank computer 820 and the payment agent computer 830. It isunderstood that the telephone line/PSTN or the sender's computer used toprovide the initial instructions by phone or over the internet,respectively, have been omitted from the fund transfer system 800 ofFIG. 8 for simplicity.

It is understood that the three computers are distinct from one anotherand typically are not co-located. Indeed, the sending bank computer 810and the payment agent computer 830 are almost always in differentcountries, while the receiving bank computer may be in either country,depending on the implementation.

Generally speaking, each of these computers is provisioned with thehardware, firmware, software applications and communicationscapabilities required to perform its respective duties. It is furtherunderstood that each of these three computers 810, 820, 830 aresubsystems which may comprise one or more processors and even representmultiple distributed computing components.

The sending bank computer 810 has an associated database 812 whichmanages information about the transactions in accordance with thepresent invention. This database communicates with the SafeSendapplication 814 discussed above. In addition, the sending bank computeris provided with software applications 816, 818 suitable forcommunicating with the receiving bank computer 820 and the payment agentcomputer 830, respectively. Additional software applications (not shown)allow the sending bank computer to communicate with the remainder of thebank systems so as to gain access to account information, and the like.

The receiving bank computer 820 includes, among other things, softwareapplications 822, 824 suitable for communicating with the sending bankcomputer 810 and the payment agent computer 830, respectively. Thereceiving bank computer 820 is also provided with an instructionreformatting application 826. The instruction reformatting application826 permits the receiving bank computer to ‘read’ the first paymentinstructions 700 and based on the payment agent 718 designated therein,retrieve from memory payment-agent-specific information about how toreformat the information in a manner acceptable to the designatedpayment agent. In addition, the receiving bank computer 820 has a fundsmanagement application 828 which may be used to electronically send andreceive funds into the commingled account 422.

The payment agent computer 830 includes, among other things, softwareapplications 832, 834 suitable for communicating with the receiving bankcomputer 820 and the sending bank computer 830, respectively. Thepayment agent computer 830 is also provided with a funds managementapplication 836 which may be used to receive funds from, and send fundsto, the receiving bank computer 820. Funds may be sent back in thosecircumstances where the cash could not be disbursed to the recipient404, for whatever reason.

The payment agent computer 830 also includes a billing application 838.As discussed above, in one embodiment, the value of first amount offunds specified by the sender is the same as the second amount that isdeducted from the sender's account 410, which is the same as the fourthamount provided to the payment agent 434 and is identical to the fifthamount disbursed to the recipient 404. In this embodiment no fee iscollected and so the bank does not realize any revenue from thetransaction with which the bank may compensate the payment agent; thepayment agent 434 is compensated separately. The billing application 838keeps tracks of the fees due the payment agent for the servicesprovided. From time to time, such as at the end of each month, thepayment agent's billing application 838 sends an invoice to the sendingbank 410 for services provided. By invoicing the sending bank 410 (whichis in a different country) instead of the receiving bank 420 (which isin the same country), value-added-taxes for the services provided may beavoided, under certain conditions.

The three computers 810, 820, 830 communicate with one anotherelectronically. The sending bank computer 810 and the receiving bankcomputer 820 communicate via an internal link 842, which may be used onan as-needed basis. In some embodiments, the internal link 842 may bededicated. The sending bank computer 810 may periodically send a batchof accumulated first payment instructions to the receiving bankcomputer. Similarly, the receiving bank computer 820 need not update thestatus of each transaction throughout the day, but may instead waituntil the end of the day and send status information for all thetransactions to the sending bank computer.

The receiving bank computer 820 and the payment agent computer 830communicate via a virtual private network (VPN) link 844 establishedover commercial lines. To accommodate this, the receiving bank computer820 and the payment agent computer 830 may each be provisioned withgateways, routers and other devices. Communication between the twocomputers 820, 830 may take place according to pre-arranged schedules.For instance, the receiving bank computer 820 may collect a number ofsecond payment instructions 730 over, e.g., a 30 minute time period,send them all at once to the payment agent computer 830, and waitanother 30 minutes before sending the next batch. Other schemes are alsopossible.

The sending bank computer 810 and the payment agent computer 830 maycommunicate via a VPN link 846, which has also been established overcommercial lines. Other arrangements are also possible for this link.

The foregoing description of an embodiment of the invention has beenpresented for purposes of illustration. It is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise steps and/or formsdisclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possiblein light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of theinvention be defined by the claims appended hereto:

1. A method for a banking customer of a first bank in a first country toinvoke a banking service of sending a first amount of cash to arecipient in a second country, the first amount of cash being in thecurrency of the second country, the banking customer having a bankaccount in the first bank, the method comprising: receiving, at a firstbank computer associated with the first bank, information fordesignating a recipient of the first amount of cash and for specifyingthe first amount of cash to be provided to the recipient; updating abank database of the first bank computer to debit the banking customer'sbank account for a second amount of cash; transmitting to a second banklocated in the second country, a first data message with informationsufficient for the second bank to provide the first amount of cash tothe recipient via a payment agent in the second country; andtransferring an amount of funds equivalent in value to the first amountof cash to a commingled account belonging to the second bank.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the second bank is an affiliate of the firstbank.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information in the firstdata message comprises a first set of fields that identify atransaction, a second set of fields that include details of thetransaction, a third set of fields that include details of therecipient, and a fourth set of fields that identify the payment agent.4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first set of fields comprise atransaction routing number, retrieval access code, record creation date,and a record creation time.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the secondset of fields comprise a date and time that a transaction requestexpires, the first amount of cash to be sent to the recipient, asender's name, and an authentication code.
 6. The method of claim 3,wherein the third set of fields comprise a name, address, and phonenumber of the recipient.
 7. The method of claim 3, wherein the fourthset of fields comprise a payment agent name.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the first amount of cash in the commingled account is incurrency of the first country or the second country.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the information in the first data message is based on asender transaction profile stored in a memory of the first bankcomputer.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data messageincludes a memo to the recipient.
 11. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving confirmation that the first amount of cash hasbeen disbursed to the recipient.
 12. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising: updating the bank database on the first bank computer toreflect the received confirmation.
 13. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving an invoice from the payment agent for servicesprovided over a predetermined period of time.
 14. An apparatus forsending cash from a sending bank in a first country comprising: adatabase configured to store user profile information; a receiving bankcomputer communication module configured to communicate with a receivingbank in a second country for transmitting the cash to a recipient; apayment agent computer communication module configured to communicatewith a payment agent in the second country for disbursing the cash tothe recipient, wherein the payment agent computer communicates with thereceiving bank computer to disburse the cash to the recipient; and acash remittance module configured to manage the transmission of the cashto the recipient based on the user profile information stored in thedatabase at the sending bank in the first country, wherein the cash isconverted from a first currency in the first country to a secondcurrency in the second country and is transmitted to the recipientthrough the receiving bank and the payment agent.
 15. The apparatus ofclaim 14, wherein the user profile information comprises a date and timethat a transaction request expires, a transaction amount to be sent tothe recipient, a sender's name, and an authentication code.
 16. Theapparatus, of claim 14, further comprising: a sender communicationmodule for receiving initial instructions from a sender with regard tothe transmitting the cash to the recipient.
 17. The apparatus of claim16, wherein the initial instructions are received via a telephone lineor the Internet.
 18. A computer-readable storage medium, at a first bankcomputer located in a first country, having computer-executable programinstructions stored thereon that when executed by a processor, cause theprocessor to perform steps comprising: receiving first data identifyinga sender, a recipient, a payment agent, and a first amount of cash in afirst currency, wherein the sender is located in a first country usingthe first currency, wherein the recipient is located in a second countryusing a second currency, wherein the payment agent is located in thesecond country for disbursing funds to the recipient by communicatingwith a second bank computer located in the second country, and whereinthe first amount of cash is in the first currency; determining a secondamount of cash in the second currency to provide to the recipient, byconverting the first amount of cash into the second currency at apredetermined exchange rate; and sending a first data message forreceipt by the second bank computer, the first data message comprisingsecond data identifying the recipient and at least one of the firstamount of cash or the second amount of cash.
 19. The computer-readablestorage medium of claim 18, wherein the computer-executable instructionsfurther perform: receiving a confirmation that the second amount of cashhas been disbursed to the recipient.
 20. The computer-readable storagemedium of claim 18, wherein the computer-executable instructions furtherperform: accessing a sender's user profile detailing the first andsecond data.
 21. A first bank computer of a first bank in a firstcountry, the first bank computer comprising: a processor; a receivingmodule configured to receive payment information including a firstamount of cash to be provided to a recipient in a second country via apayment agent in the second country, a date that the first amount ofcash is to be sent to the recipient, and an identity of the paymentagent located in the second country to be used in disbursing the firstamount of cash to the recipient; a formatting module configured toformat the payment information into first payment instructions, whereinthe first payment instructions include a first set of fields thatidentify a transaction, a second set of fields that include details ofthe transaction, a third set of fields that include details of therecipient, and a fourth set of fields that identify the payment agent;and a transmitting module configured to (a) transmit to a second bankcomputer associated with a second bank located in the second country,the first payment instructions and (b) transmit an amount of fundsequivalent in value to the first amount of cash to a commingled accountbelonging to the second bank.